The origins of farming insects
A beetle bores a tree trunk to build a gallery in the wood in order to protect its lay. As it digs the tunnel, it spreads ambrosia fungal spores that will feed the larvae. When these bore another tree, the adult beetles will be the transmission vecto.....»»
Getting to the root of the problem in tree digital twin models
Trees have immeasurable societal benefits. They provide wood, absorb carbon dioxide, and shelter animals and insects, but also provide shade and space for people to relax......»»
New insights into the origin of the Indo-European languages
An international team of linguists and geneticists led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig has achieved a significant breakthrough in our understanding of the origins of Indo-European, a family of lan.....»»
New insights into the evolution of the plague pathogen
The origins of the plague go back to the Neolithic Age, with the oldest findings of the causative pathogen Yersinia pestis coming from human bones around 5,000 years old. In the history of the plague, the late antique Justinianic plague from the sixt.....»»
Family trees from the European Neolithic shed light on social organization
The Neolithic lifestyle, based on farming instead of hunting and gathering, emerged in the Near East around 12,000 years ago and contributed profoundly to the modern way of life. The ability to produce and store extra food led Neolithic people to dev.....»»
A butterfly"s first flight inspires a new way to produce force and electricity
The wings of a butterfly are made of chitin, an organic polymer that is the main component of the shells of arthropods like crustaceans and other insects. As a butterfly emerges from its cocoon in the final stage of metamorphosis, it will slowly unfo.....»»
Global patterns of biodiversity in seed plants unveiled
Understanding the origins and preservation of biodiversity is crucial as human impact continues to threaten our planet's rich variety of life. Often overlooked, narrow-ranged and evolutionary unique species play a vital role in shaping biodiversity......»»
When Greenland was green: Ancient soil from beneath a mile of ice offers warnings for the future
About 400,000 years ago, large parts of Greenland were ice-free. Scrubby tundra basked in the sun's rays on the island's northwest highlands. Evidence suggests that a forest of spruce trees, buzzing with insects, covered the southern part of Greenlan.....»»
Looking deeper into violent neutron star collisions to find the origins of heavy elements
The gold that makes up your most precious jewelry may have been forged in a violent cosmic collision millions or billions of light years away between two neutron stars. New research seeks to better understand this process......»»
New discovery unveils the ancient marine origins of gar fish
A new species of ancient gar fish that thrived in a marine environment 66 million years ago has been identified by an international team of paleontologists......»»
Study shows bats struggle during organic farming transition
Bat activity falls as farms make the transition to organic agriculture, new research shows......»»
Technology can boost farming in Africa, but it can also threaten biodiversity. How to balance the two
Cultivating one hectare of maize used to be an arduous task for Precious Banda, a farmer in Zambia. It would take her hundreds of hours to prepare her land before sowing and to keep it weed-free until harvest—equipped with nothing but a small hoe......»»
Lean times hit the vertical farming business
Vertical farms are going through a tough period - do the hi-tech indoor farms have a future?.....»»
A Meatless Diet Is Better for You--And the Planet
Vegetarian and especially vegan diets can promote better health, help mitigate climate change and reduce inhumane factory farming.....»»
Amber reveals evolution of parasitism of nematodes
Nematodes (roundworms) are distributed worldwide in almost all habitats. The Mermithidae, a family of nematodes larger than others, are obligate invertebrate parasites which occur in insects, millipedes, crustaceans, spiders, mollusks and earthworms......»»
I tried to relive the forgotten legacy of Halo as a Mac franchise — and it was a disaster
Halo has a long history, but its origins lie on Mac, and now, it's finally possible to fulfill the game's original legacy......»»
A calculated risk: How ants judge when to commit their bodies to a ladder
How do social animals judge risk/reward? A new study with ants provides one answer. Enlarge (credit: grass-lifeisgood) Social insects, which don't have very large nervous systems, are capable of remarkably sophisticated.....»»
Whale of a debate put to rest
Researchers have finally settled a decades-long dispute about the evolutionary origins of the pygmy right whale......»»
Is My Adventures with Superman worth watching?
After years of evil Superman movies, TV shows, and games, does the new Adult Swim series My Adventures with Superman stay true to the DC character's origins?.....»»
Discovery of 500-million-year-old fossil reveals astonishing secrets of tunicate origins
Karma Nanglu says his favorite animal is whichever one he's working on. But his latest subject may hold first place status for a while: a 500-million-year-old fossil from the wonderfully weird group of marine invertebrates, the tunicates......»»
Nestle steps up reforestation project in Ivory Coast
Nestle is stepping up its project to combat deforestation in Ivory Coast caused by the growth of cocoa farming, bringing cocoa trading companies directly on board......»»